A bill intended to crack down on ‘‘pill mills’’ in Georgia passed a key House committee unanimously Monday, after stirring testimony from a northwest...

A bill intended to crack down on ‘‘pill mills’’ in Georgia passed a key House committee unanimously Monday, after stirring testimony from a northwest Georgia coroner and a suburban Atlanta police chief.

House Bill 178 would put pain management clinics under the regulation of Georgia’s medical board, which would issue licenses to their operators. And after June 30, any new pain clinic would have to be physician-owned — a requirement similar to other states’ laws.

A similar bill died last year on the final day of the General Assembly.

Georgia has a major pill mill problem, said the legislation’s lead sponsor, Rep. Tom Weldon (R-Ringgold), at a hearing of the House Health and Human Services Committee. That’s partly because neighboring states, including Florida, have passed tougher laws against pill mills, which dispense controlled drugs such as oxycodone, Xanax and hydrocodone.

Many of these clinic operators have recently moved to Georgia to set up shop, a recent Wall Street Journal article reported.

“We’re known as the doughnut hole when it comes to pain management,’’ said Weldon, an attorney.

A ‘‘pill mill” is a doctor’s office, clinic or pharmacy that is prescribing or dispensing powerful narcotics inappropriately or for non-medical reasons.

The federal government says prescription painkillers are the nation’s No. 1 drug epidemic. More than 16,000 people die annually in the United States from opioid painkillers — more than from heroin and cocaine combined.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Georgia is home to more than 125 pain clinics, up from fewer than 10 in 2010. Per capita prescription sales of oxycodone in Georgia tripled between 2000 and 2010, the Journal reported.

State Attorney General Sam Olens has emphasized the need for pill mill legislation, and lawyers from his office helped craft the wording in the bill.

Weldon told the House committee of a young man from Ringgold who recently died from an overdose of a drug mixed with alcohol.

People in constant pain need medications, he said. “Pain management is legitimate and necessary and provides good health care for people who have chronic pain,’’ he said.

After the committee vote, Weldon told Georgia Health News that the anti-pill mill effort is a personal issue for him, and cited a brother’s addiction to drugs, along with the young Ringgold man who overdosed.

Last month, owners and employees of a pain clinic in Lilburn, in suburban Atlanta, were indicted on federal charges that they allegedly sold prescriptions for opiate-based narcotics to addicts and drug dealers.

Lilburn’s police chief, Bruce Hedley, told the Georgia House panel Monday that the clinic, located near Berkmar High School, represented “a clear and present threat to our community.’’

The patients were mainly from outside Georgia, he said.

Formerly, Florida was “the epicenter’’ of illegal pain clinics, said Hedley. Now Georgia is the epicenter, he said.

Also addressing the lawmakers was Vanita Hollander, the coroner in Catoosa County, where Ringgold is located. She said that last year, at least 20 county residents died from prescription drug overdoses.

“We’re only touching the tip of the iceberg,’’ Hollander told the panel.

She said her own daughter became addicted to painkillers after injuring her back. Her daughter has overcome that addiction, but still has physical problems from the drug abuse, Hollander said.

“There are a lot of good, honest people getting addicted,’’ Hollander said.

Andy Miller

Andy Miller is editor and CEO of Georgia Health News

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Tell me what in the hell is going to be done about all these friggin wrecks caused by drinking this fine alcohol the government loves to tax and get paid off of??? Y’all are so damn busy trying to stop someone from bring relieved from pain, and putting a stop to the pain pill problem that you look right over the other word that was in the sentence about what killed that poor kid! ALCOHOL!!! But NO!! Don’t regulate that!!! All the lawmaking hypocrites that are throwing em back as they are walking up the steps to get to the next legislation! Pills are a problem for THOSE THAT DONT NEED THEM but for those of us that do how about focusing on the other problems half as much as you do about trying to take opiate meds away and our population won’t drop near as fast!!! I assure you! It’s a damn shame that our lawmakers dance to the same tune everyone else does! Ever heard of LEADING BY EXAMPLE GA BOYS? Hell the money on alcohol sales is so good I can swing by and grab a 6pack after I get outta church on Sunday! What a state! No privacy, and hey Joe swing by the store and grab a case after church Sunday and oh yea better put your meds up those pills your doctor gave you are illegal!

Georgia Health News is a nonprofit, independent news organization devoted to covering health care in the state. We are serious about our independence and are not affiliated with any political party, special interest organization or activist group. Our mission is to help fill the widening gap in media coverage by providing crucial information about health care in Georgia. GHN has received 501c3 status from the IRS.